On Monday we have published a blog post about the situation in Ukraine. Since then we have managed to distribute a large number of gift codes to individuals in Ukraine and Russia. We hope these accounts will be put to good use.
Frankly, this ‘project’ has become a top priority for us because of the situation our colleagues are facing. Being in a position where we can actually do something useful, we are now thinking about options on how to reach more people with the offer of free accounts. Even spending money to spread the word, if possible/necessary.
We are asking your recommendations and your opinion on:
- Potentially reaching closed groups with Ukrainian citizens
- Contacting Ukrainian organizations (specifically journalists, newsrooms, anyone who can amplify)
- Advertising on Twitter or Reddit - this would go against our ethical commitments, but hard times might call for exceptions
We are ready to get your feedback on these ideas, or perhaps new ones. Thanks.
Blog post: https://www.ivpn.net/blog/in-support-of-ukraine
I have a little feedback, I find it very good what you are doing. The problem is this, someone iknow applied to this in Russia (because of the censor en blocking what is going on). That person got the free ivpn what I find great of you. The problem is this: that person can’t download Ivpn on an iPhone. That person mailed you and got the answer:
"Unfortunately there is no workaround for iPhones and iPads if an app is restricted in your country, as Apple just complies with the Russian laws and removes VPN service apps.
Your best bet is to use IVPN on an Android phone (download .apk from our website) or on a desktop device."
That person does not has a desktop or an android phone. So what now? The problem is, this person is not going te be the only one.
I think a finite (3 year max) free plan can help people. After the finite time period, IVPN can reassess whether or not to extend the free plan.
Some questions to ponder:
- How to define your target users (i.e. live in Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian citizens who are abroad, etc).
- How to avoid people from abusing IVPN’s free offer (non-impacted people).
- How many free accounts can IVPN support both financially and technically (server capacities)?
Advertising is a double-edged sword considering IVPN has a “no advertising” reputation. IVPN should be cautious on the wording and how you will advertise. Overall, I am in support of IVPN helping out those who are in need of a VPN in Ukraine and Russia. I will be sharing the blog post with friends who have family in those countries.
Yes this is an issue, and the actual ban we cannot circumvent.
I was mistaken about the lack of workaround though. There is an option for iOS users to get connected - they can download the WireGuard app for example and set up a manual connection as described on the bottom of this page: https://www.ivpn.net/apps-ios/
This is a hoop non-technical folks might not be able to jump through. This is the best we can do now.
Also iOS has a native IKEv2 configuration setting. I know it’s not as popular as OpenVPN or WG but still considered strong with good encryption algorithms which IVPN uses, or is that setting missing in eastern Europe?
As far as i know, the easy fix for that is to change the country on your apple id settings. I came across some apps that were giving me the “not available in your appstore region” and i changed my country and got to download whatever i needed. WARNING: if you have any subscription it will be automatically cancelled. Once you’ve downloaded the app just change your country back to where it was.
I think iOS users can circumvent this by sideloading (they can sideload up to 3 apps for free as far as I know). They just need the .ipa file. Pretty techy thing, though.
Thanks for your input.
To shortly answer your points:
- We are distributing 1-month plans right now, specifically to avoid abuse and cost considerations. We can extend and distribute further codes if the situation remains.
- As /u/TrueNightFox mentioned we can handle the costs and the server load in the region right now, it’s a question we took into account
Thanks for the note on the advertising, I’m inclined to agree with your risk-benefit assessment.
Good points, similar thoughts. noble gesture by IVPN but I think something like 1-3 month free accounts is more reasonable. The selfish part of me thinks about the infrastructure engineer IVPN is looking for (IVPN, perhaps consider opening position to EST timezone where many 10’s of millions of people reside in N.America), also the software development team is currently spread too thin. Right now the Ukraine server looks like it can handle a lot more load but how much can IVPN absorb in cost…I’m just an individual talking on the internet here, but there definitely needs to be a lot of due diligence over how IVPN will allocate resources for upcoming development goals.
I’ve not used IKE2/IPSec in a while , but afaict IVPN still supports it, right?
Unless I’m mistaken, iOS (and MacOS) has native IPSec support, so Apple mobileconfig files are probably your best bet. I know of some scripts on github that harden a VPS instance, deploy an IPSec VPN and create a mobileconfig file that you can send to Apple users to “one-click/tap” install. Algo is probably the most famous script on Github for this.
Perhaps IVPN can do something similar for Ukrainian and Russian Apple users that contact you.
Actually, I think it’d be better if you deployed separate instances just for this category of people. It doesn’t have to follow the same system current IVPN Standard/Pros plan user have, just something that’s secure and can be quickly deployed (both to datacenters and users), and won’t affect IVPN’s “main” setup in case it’s compromised or abused. Something where you can send Apple mobileconfig or equivalent config files for other platforms in an email reply. Have your devs cross-reference the scripts I mentioned against their own configurations to see what your options are.
Just my 2 cents.
Yes IKEv2/IPSec is an option and does not need app downloads.
We have a guide for this: https://www.ivpn.net/setup/ios-ipsec-ikev2/